The sale of a Victoria Cross won by a First World War hero has devastated one
side of his family and left his daughter, who wanted it donated to a museum,
”heartbroken”.

The medal was awarded to Sidney Godley of the Royal Fusiliers for his “coolness and gallantry” in defending the Nimy Bridge during the Battle of Mons in August 1914. It was the first to be given to a private in the war.

It had been in his family since he received it at Buckingham Palace in 1919 but some are angered that their relatives have profited from the soldier’s bravery.

Godley, from East Grinstead, West Sussex, denied a vital canal crossing to the advancing Germans by single-handedly manning a machinegun for two hours, despite being shot in the head.

When he died in 1957, he left the VC to his wife, Ellen, who handed it down to their son, Stanley, who in turn passed it to his own son, Colin, 16 years ago.

But Colin Godley’s decision to auction the medal, which went to a private and unidentified collector for £276,000, left the war hero’s daughter, Eileen Slade, “totally devastated”.

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Mrs Slade, 89, from Clacton, Essex, said it was “like losing one of the family” and has been inconsolable since learning of the sale on the eve of the auction last week.

Her son, Andy, said: “It could have killed her, to be blunt about it. She is beside herself.

“She wanted the medal to go either to the Royal Fusiliers Museum or stay in the family. She didn’t think anyone should be making any money out of it, simply be because of how it was won.”

Mr Slade disclosed that the last time he had seen his cousin, Colin, was more than 11 years ago and that the medal had “split the family”.

He added: “I know Stanley wanted it kept in the family but for whatever reason, Colin decided to part company with it.

“No one contacted my mother to explain the reasons. If they had, it might have been easier for her to come to terms with. She has been snubbed.

“I’m sure my grandfather would not have wanted it to cause such unpleasantness, these things are not meant for that.”

Mr Slade’s sister Gillian, who was named by her grandfather, added: “We all know that people come by hard times but this was such a family thing, I just think if it wasn’t going to be kept it should have gone back to where it came from, to the Royal Fusiliers.”

She said there had been some friction when her mother first suggested it should go to a museum and that she thought Stanley might at that point have had a letter of ownership drawn up.

Colin Godley, declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Telegraph, stating that it was a “personal, family matter”.

However, before the auction, he told a local Sussex newspaper: “Each time I take the medals out of the bank they have to be insured and that comes at a price. And the way times are at the moment, it is becoming difficult.

"We are going to use the money to make a visit to Mons on the centenary of the battle and also to help with the trips we make each year."

Mr Slade said that while the identity of the private collector remained a mystery, he hoped that it one day it might still be donated to a museum.